Refusing to rule out military action is standard for a competent negotiating team. No big deal. If Biden had done that with Putin instead of preemptively surrendering the option, Ukraine might look different today. The problem here is that the US and Australia have failed to take care of business in the Pacific archipelago, attending to the interests of these strategic islands, and now are in the pathetic position of trying to make up for past foreign policy failure. Good luck convincing the president of the Solomons to unwind the deal with China after the fact. Fat chance, Blinken you imbecile.